Like a beer coat, but more acceptable in the Home Counties

Cheap eats: Shakshuka

This is not a terribly authentic recipe, but it’s quick and veggie and cheap. It’s a great store cupboard recipe and also good for using up the ends of the veg bin – I’ve aways got halves of peppers lying about.

This is also delicious for breakfast the next day, or you can use any leftover pepper mix in wraps or as an omelette filling.

A pack of mixed peppers costs about a quid, let’s say 20p for an onion and 50p for a tin of tomatoes. Up to a pound for 4 eggs, depending on the quality and provenance. So meals for 2 adults plus leftovers = between £2.50 and £3.00. As always, I’m assuming some basic store cupboard ingredients and aromatics.

What you need

3 or 4 peppers, any colour, sliced

1 large onion, sliced

Tin of chopped tomatoes

Eggs (I serve 2 per person)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Olive oil

Teaspoon each of of paprika and cumin (you could leave these out)

What you do

In a frypan with a lid, fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft, then add the peppers and soften these also.

Stir in the tomatoes and spices, and simmer for 5 mins.

Make small wells in the mix and crack an egg into each. Cover the pan with its lid and cook until the egg whites are firm but the yolks are still soft, about 5 mins.

Serve with some bread, or over couscous, if you like, with a splash of hot sauce.

You could, if you wanted to, add sliced mushrooms with the peppers, and/or stir in some baby spinach to wilt, before adding the eggs, but I’ve not costed this.

Add some meat: Some fried chorzo in this woudl be deliciousMake it low-carb: Don’t serve the bread.Make it child-friendly: Go easy on the spices